Websites Under Your Control Blog

 First glance... A couple of years ago we published an account of a research study showing that first impressions are made in the first 1/20th of a second.  (A blink of the eye takes about 15 times longer!)

Second glance... Then a few months ago, we described typical visitor time on web pages (30 seconds, regardless of amount of text), pointing out that only about 100-150 words will "register."

The magazine industry has had centuries to figure out what works. Think about the row after row of magazines you see at the store. Each magazine has a few things in common with the rest:

• First glance... an overall appearance that appeals to their target audience, to get them to take a closer look,
• Second glance... seldom more than 100-150 words, in 3-6 "teasers," to entice potential readers to open up the magazine, and,
• nothing else! 

Your home page should follow the same approach

You need an overall look that immediately appeals to your ideal audience. Remember, that "appeal" is won or lost before any words have had time to even register in your visitors' minds.

You cannot convey more than the most basic message on the home page. The goal is to catch their attention on any of a very few key topics, so they will click (not scroll) to learn more.

You know the expression? It usually refers to a big talker who can't deliver on his claims.

We sometimes think of that phrase when asked to help someone get their amateurish website pushed to a more prominent position in Google.

For both the braggart and the website, once people get disappointed, they are likely turned off forever.

So even if you can get prime Google placement, if your website isn't up to snuff, well, nice hat!

We strongly advise: first and foremost, make your website appealing to your visitors. Only then give thought to your Google placement.

Why? Do the arithmetic.

Say your website brings in 500 visitors a month, and 5 of them, or 1%, become customers. Say each will spend enough to make you $100. That's $500 profit from your website.

Think about those 495 people who did not buy from you. Just like the 5 who bought from you, these 495  took the time to come to your website because they assumed you offered something they wanted.

What website improvements might convert just 5 out of those 495 interested people into buyers?

Get those 5 more, and the monthly net from your website just jumped from $500 to $1000.

Bonus:

Improve the content, and not only will your conversion rate improve -- the search engines will rate you higher as well!  If you missed it, last week we talked about how search engines are almost immune from "tricks" these days, and increasingly look for the quality of your website - so focus on compelling content.

(Need help with your content? We offer a ghostwriting service for our clients. If you're not our client, see if your webmaster or marketing advisor can help.)

Creative people demand creativity in their websites, so when Next Step Dance opened their doors in Frisco, they had us design a look for their logo, their advertising, and their website.

Because we wanted to illustrate the wide range of professional-level dance training and performances at Next Step, we display the images on the home page in a slide show, changing every few seconds, and we display randomly selected images from their performances on each of the inner pages.